Disclaimer: Stargate: SG-1 and all related concepts are the property of MGM, while the character of Spike belongs to Joss Whedon and James Marsters, among other people (Also, the original idea for this story came from Jedi Buttercup's 'An Unexpected Gift', so I don't own it either, although I have put my own spin on things, and have been given his full permission to use his idea)

Feedback: I'd appreciate it, of course

AN: This one begins a few days after the last chapter; partly a filler and partly a continuation of the main plot, as the quest for the Sangraal resumes in earnest...

The Ghost in the Team

"You're kidding?" Vala said, looking at Spike with a broad smile as she took in what he'd just said.

"Would I kid about that?" Spike asked, smirking at the woman, the two of them casually sitting in a disused room of the SGC as Vala picked away at some of the food she'd brought to the room (Spike didn't eat, obviously, but he had assured her that he didn't feel jealous or anything when confronted with the reminder that she could). "Trust me, when you've lived as long as I have, you stop making stuff up... well, unless you have to, of course."

"But you actually met your country's queen?" Vala asked, her eyebrows raised slightly incredulously.

"Well, saw her while I was planning my latest snack, anyway; you know how it is, you're hanging around at those upper-class shindigs, and you never know who's going to turn up..." Spike trailed, off, shrugging slightly as he reminded himself that Vala wouldn't actually know those things went on Earth even as the general gist of his story was easy enough to understand.

"So... what did you do?" Vala asked.

"Did what any self-respecting British vampire would do; hightailed out of there!" Spike replied, a serious stare on his face before it split into a smile. "Hey, I might be dead- even if I wasn't as dead as I am now-, but I'm still British; I wasn't about to bite the bloody Queen!"

"Interesting philosophy," Vala said with a slight smile. "Qetesh wasn't that subtle when she was in me; she might not have had much compared to some of the Goa'uld the SGC had encountered before I met them, but she knew how to use it."

"Such as?" Spike asked; he'd read a bit about some of the Goa'uld the SGC had encountered when he'd been able to find someone to go over the files with him- Daniel and Teal'c were generally the best people for help in that regard, although Teal'c was more often able to give him the facts about the bad guys while Daniel included some stuff about who they'd been in the original myths-, but information from the horse's mouth like this was something he wasn't going to pass up.

"Oh, waged the occasional war against Ba'al- Qetesh actually managed to defeat a significantly-sized army of his once-, outwitted a few minor Goa'uld in her own little scams- I'm never sure if she picked that up from me or was like that already-, and generally effectively controlled her little portion of the universe without making it boring or stamping on too many peoples' metaphorical fingers..."

"In other words, stay low but have fun doing it?" Spike said with a slight smile.

"Essentially, yes," Vala replied with a nod. "I didn't do it as much after Qetesh got extracted from me, of course- it was a bit harder to trick the Goa'uld when they would be able to sense that I didn't have Qetesh controlling me any more; they'd probably have been really angry at the idea of a human trying to beat them-, but it was still a wild ride; one of the few things I like about my memories of back then."

"Eh, I know what you mean; had my share of wild rides back when I was evil," Spike said with a smile; he might not be about to share stories of the children he'd killed, but that still left some interesting ones open for him to talk about. "Heard of Dracula?"

"The book?" Vala asked, looking at him curiously. "I went onto that... Internet... thing to read a bit about it- someone mentioned it when I was asking for more information about vampires- and..."

Her voice trailed off as she thought about what she was talking about. "Hold on, you're saying that there's an actual vampire called Dracula?"

"Stirred up a riot against him after he tried to kill my girl and destroyed my copy of the book when we ran into each other a short bit after it was published," Spike said, smiling briefly at her before he sighed. "Bugger still owes me eleven pounds for the damn thing..."

"He's alive?" Vala said, looking incredulously at Spike. "But... he died at the end of the book!"

"The sod's made a whole bunch of deals with gypsies- nobody's entirely sure what he gave them in return- which make him pretty much unkillable; nobody's worked out a way to put him out of commission for good yet," Spike replied with a slight sigh. "I knew a guy who trapped him in a statue once, and I even saw him crash-land while piloting a plane once, but he still keeps on coming back; best anyone can really do against him is put him down long enough to get away so that he can't come back until some time later..."

"Ah," Vala said, nodding slightly in the manner that Spike had come to recognise as her 'I-kind-of-get-what-you're-saying-even-if-I-don't-understand-the-specifics'-nod (Although he acknowledged that he probably had a similar expression when she started talking about Goa'uld science) before looking slightly curiously at him. "By the way... 'your girl'?"

"Drusilla," Spike said as an explanation, briefly contemplating avoidance before discarding that thought as quickly as it had crossed his mind; he'd already mentioned her in passing, but if he was going to get anywhere with... this... he had to be honest. "She was... well, she was the vamp who turned me, and a major driving force in most of the things I did from that point onwards; spent the next century or so with her- split up a few times to do our own things, but we always got back together in the end-, but things kind of... petered out a few years back; she disagreed with some stuff I'd done recently, I was in a bit of a mood about stuff she'd done recently, there was a whole thing involving the next person I'd fall for that just gets way too complicated..."

"Ah," Vala said, looking at him with an ambiguous expression on her face that could have meant anything before she assumed a more curious appearance. "So... you essentially dated your vampire mother?"

"It's not exactly like that..." Spike began, looking awkwardly at Vala. "I mean, she was a bit too 'off' to really be any kind of parental figure to me- spent most of her time out of her mind; she'd been driven mad before she was turned so that her sire's torment of her mortal self could last forever-, so I got most of my vampire training from her sire; she was more of an equal-"

"Spike," Vala said, smiling at him with a pointed yet reassuring stare as she looked at him. "You don't need to defend yourself to me; after some of the worlds I've seen when I was Qetesh- you'd really be amazed at what some societies out there encourage or condone-, I'm not going to criticise a bit of somewhat-strange incest."

Despite the slight wince at Vala's choice of phrase, Spike nevertheless smiled gratefully at her.

"Thanks," he said, evidently appreciative of her willingness to let that particular part of his past slide.

"No problem," Vala replied, before she looked at him more curiously. "So... what happened to Drusilla anyway?"

"Left me for a chaos demon- whole mess of slime and antlers- because she thought I was too 'human' for her after some of the stuff I'd done recently," Spike said, sighing slightly at the memory. "Moved past it since then, of course- you can't do some of the things I've done without knowing that you couldn't do them if you were a 'proper' vampire-, but it doesn't make it any easier hearing it the first time..."

"Well, that's parents the universe over for you, isn't it; if you're not exactly what they wanted of you, they leave you feeling like you've let them down," Vala said with a shrug. "My stepmother was always trying to control me when I was growing up, and my father was only there now and again; he was absent for the first three years of my life when he ran the black market in the Nylus sector, and he only came back when his latest scheme went wrong and he needed somewhere to hide."

"Sounds like a charmer," Spike said with a brief shrug.

"Well, he wasn't always that bad- he always told me stories about what he'd seen and done, although that might have been because I wouldn't let him sleep up until he had-, but..." Vala began, before she trailed off as she looked uncertainly at Spike, the somewhat conflicted expression on her case making her thoughts clear.

"You don't exactly like him because he was never there for you, but what with him being your dad and all, you just... can't resist the urge to overlook that," Spike finished for her.

"Well... pretty much," Vala replied, nodding briefly back at Spike. "It's not that I'd automatically forgive him, but..."

Vala's voice trailed off as she looked upwards, sighing slightly as she tried to find the words to define what Spike could tell was a complicated relationship, before she finally shook her head. "I just... want to care about him for the good memories rather than hate him for the bad ones, you know?"

"Yeah," Spike said, looking sympathetically back at her before he finally spoke. "I killed my mum."

Noting Vala's suddenly stunned expression, he automatically began to elaborate. "Well, actually, I'd already killed her- it was shortly after I'd been turned by Dru; Mum was dying of TB and I thought I'd be able to save her-, but then the demon her went and tried to shag me or kill me- taking our old relationship to the extreme; we'd always been close back when we were both alive-, and..."

He shrugged. "Well, I killed her."

"Oh," Vala said, a slightly relieved smile on her face- Spike decided not to think too much about that; anyone would have been shocked at the idea of someone being capable of killing their parents- as she smiled at him. "Well... it was just the demon you that killed her, wasn't it? It might be based on you as far as its memory goes, but it's not like it was actually you you..."

"Told myself that when I was dealing with what I'd done to her- it wasn't my mum I'd killed, it was whatever was left after what... had happened to her-, but it doesn't mean it sucks any less; hell, I repressed the damn memory of the whole thing after it happened because it was too difficult to deal with, and I was evil at the time," Spike muttered sullenly. "Whole damn thing got used against me by the First a few months back; managed to get past it so it can't try that trick again, but..."

He shook his head grimly. "Almost better when I thought I'd just left her after I was turned..."

"Hey," Vala said, reaching over to place a hand near his shoulder, in a gesture that would have touched her vampire 'friend'- she still wasn't sure if applying the term 'boyfriend' was accurate in this case given the limitations on their relationship due to Spike's current physical status, but she was definitely more interested in him than she'd been in any man since Daniel or Tomin- if he had possessed a physical body. "Look at it this way; even when you were evil, you tried to help your mother. That's..."

She smiled. "It's kind of sweet, really."

"'Sweet'?" Spike repeated, looking back at her with a wince. "You're calling me 'sweet'? Demon me left a trail of corpses in Europe that was only surpassed by Angelus, and now I'm 'sweet'-?"

Any thoughts of what he might have said if he had continued speaking were cut off when Vala suddenly opened her currently casual shirt to give Spike a more-than-brief glimpse of her chest, the sultry smile accompanying the gesture enough to make Spike's eyes widen in surprise.

It wasn't like he hadn't seen this kind of thing before, but the fact that Vala did this purely for his enjoyment, knowing that she wouldn't get anything out of it herself...

The sound of knocking on the door prompted Vala to quickly do her top back up as she and Spike quickly assumed a more professionally casual appearance.

"Come in," Vala said, she and Spike sitting casually on the sofa as she picked at the last of her food as Mitchell walked in.

"Good; you're both here," he said, nodding at the two of them with a nonchalant manner that avoided any implication that he might know why the two of them were together. Given the somewhat ambiguous nature of Spike and Vala's relationship- as members of an official team any relationship between them should be discouraged, but neither of them were actually members of the military and it was all but impossible to hurt Spike-, SG-1 were operating on a 'don't ask don't tell' policy for their friends; so long as nobody explicitly asked if Spike and Vala were involved, and so long as the two avoided anything that might give their relationship away, they were allowed to do what they wanted in their spare time. "We're ready to head to that address Jackson and Sam found; get ready to suit up... or just show up, for those of us who can't change."

Spike didn't bother responding to Mitchell's teasing jab about his coat; the thought of what was coming up was far too exciting for him.

He was about to participate in a quest for the sodding Holy Grail...

OK, so it wasn't the actual 'cup of Christ'- even if a part of him was fairly sure that thing was real; why would crucifixes hurt so much if the guy who'd made them holy didn't exist?-, but hey; given that the damn thing was going to help them save the universe, did it matter if it was a holy relic or just really cool alien technology?

"So..." Spike asked, looking uncertainly at the group as they walked towards the small, medieval-looking town nearest to the Stargate, "this thing can... kill these 'Ascended' you're dealing with?"

Even if the fight with the First was behind him, a part of him had to wonder if this thing they were looking for would have been capable of 'killing' the First as well as these 'Ori' buggers; he might not like science himself, but there was something amusing about the idea of anything having progressed to a point where they could take out the First Evil itself...

"Well, it's not exactly 'killing'; a more accurate term from what we've been able to translate suggests that 'negating' would be a better description," Sam explained, the team walking along with their weapons ready- without actually being raised- for use if the situation called for it. "From what we've been able to translate, the device would release energy into the dimension inhabited by the Ascended on a frequency that would oppose the energy that comprises their 'structure', essentially negating them like positive and negative charges cancelling each other out..."

"Gotcha; let's just... leave it at that, eh?" Spike said, nodding slightly at Sam before he looked over at the others with a slight smile. "Still, hey; chance to meet Merlin? What's not to like about this concept?"

"So he is real?" Daniel asked, looking over at Spike. "As in, you've encountered reference to Merlin from a... supernatural... perspective?"

"Uh... no, actually," Spike said, feeling embarrassed for the first time at his own comparative ignorance of the more mystical elements of his background as he noted the slightly crestfallen expression on his friend's face. "I mean, I'm sure there is one, I just never read anything about him; the supernatural side of things was never that interesting to me..."

"OK, we'll just have to save that for later; right now, we're here," Mitchell said, looking over at Spike with a slightly pointed stare as they walked through what appeared to be the village's main gates into a town that reminded Spike of various medieval-themed movies he'd seen, the people dressed in casual jerkins and linens as they looked uncertainly at the new arrivals.

"The culture and level of technology looks similar to what we found on the Camelot planet," Daniel commented, after a few moments' of silence as the team walked into the village.

"Yeah, I'm going to assume that's a good thing," Mitchell said, looking grimly at the people around him as he thought for a moment before continuing. "I think some of these folks have figured out we're not from around here."

"Take it that means we're just going for the direct approach, huh?" Spike said, looking uncertainly over at Mitchell; he might not be able to be hurt himself, but that didn't stop him worrying about the rest (And how strange was it to feel this kind of genuine concern about other people; even when he'd been with the Scoobies he'd mainly tolerated most of them rather than actually liking them...).

"It's as good a plan as any," Mitchell said with a brief shrug, as he turned to address the people gathered before him. "Hi, all. We've come here looking for the Sangraal; it's a little red thing about so big..."

Mitchell's voice trailed off as the villagers exchanged glances with each other, their expressions essentially unreadable even if the implications weren't entirely encouraging, until one of them, dressed in a simple green sleeveless shirt over a yellow long-sleeved shirt and identically coloured trousers, broke the silence.

"It has been many generations since anyone has come in search of the Sangraal," the villager said, looking pointedly at the six people in front of him, "and now you're the second group of adventurers in less than a week to take up the quest."

"Second?" Spike said, looking at the man with a new intensity; he might be new, but he doubted anyone else going after something as powerful as the Sangraal was a good thing.

"A number of Jaffa passed through here three days ago," the villager explained, walking around from behind the cart where he'd been standing to face them directly.

"Were they accompanied by anyone?" Sam asked.

"Yes," the villager confirmed. "They were led by a man who clearly commanded their fear and respect."

"Ba'al has been here," Teal'c commented, his tone grim at the thought (Not that Spike could blame him; based on Vala's stories and what he'd read in the files, Ba'al was not the type of guy you wanted to run into).

"And he's got a three-day head start on us..." Daniel muttered grimly.

"If you truly seek the Sangraal," the villager said- most likely concluding that whatever they were discussing amongst themselves wasn't his business-, indicating a building on the opposite side of the square they were currently standing in, "you must consult with the Parchment of Virtues in the village library; it will prepare you for the journey to come."

"Thanks," Mitchell said, nodding briefly at him before they turned around to walk in the direction of the building that had just been pointed out to them.

"But I should warn you," the villager added, prompting the group to turn around and face him once again, "no one has ever returned from the Quest alive; if you value your lives, you would do well to reconsider."

"Nice warning, but since we didn't come here after all the effort it took to find your address just to quit, thanks but no thanks," Spike said, nodding briefly at the man before him, ignoring the fact that he hadn't actually been on the team for a particularly long time before they found the address; his friends had spent that time finding out where to go, and that was enough for him.

With Spike having essentially spoken for all of them, the team resumed their walk towards the library, the old wooden door easily opening to reveal a poorly-lit interior, roles of parchment scattered all over the shelves, as well as some piles of books on a table and some benches.

"Hello?" Vala asked, looking uncertainly around the building as the assorted team took up positions to study the parchments before them.

"So... how do we do this?" Mitchell asked at last, looking uncertainly at Daniel. "I'm not exactly sure these things use an organisational system we'd be familiar with..."

"Well," Daniel said uncertainly as he looked over the parchments before him, "I suppose we could start by looking for any and all materials related to the Sangraal..."

"Or you could simply ask me," another voice said, the small team glancing up a low stairway to see an old man with a neat, short white beard standing on a small stone staircase behind the door, dressed in a long black robe with a brown coat over it and a rolled-up parchment in his right hand. "I am Osric, keeper of the village archives."

"Hello," Sam replied, nodding uncertainly at the old man before them. "We're looking for something called the Parchment of Virtues."

"Ah," Osric said, smiling slightly as he walked slowly down the stairs, tossing the parchment in his hands off to the side without ever looking directly at the new arrivals, "another band of stalwart heroes come to tempt fate in the hopes of claiming the legendary prize."

"What do you know of the Sangraal?" Teal'c asked, evidently deciding to get right down to business.

"Only what I have heard from legend," Osric replied, as he leaned against a small ladder and pointed at the door behind them. "That it is located in a cave beyond the outlying forest... but that the journey there is fraught with peril."

"Ages ago," he continued, as he climbed slowly up the ladder to remove a long wooden box from a shelf before passing it to Sam, "Morgan Le Fay enchanted the area with a terrible curse, and since then it has claimed countless lives."

"We... try not to think too much about curses..." Vala began, even as she and the rest of SG-1 couldn't help but look at Spike in recollection of some of the stories he'd told them about curses he'd seen or personally experienced.

"Neither did Phaedra, the cobbler's wife," Osric interjected, as he took the box back and opened it, placing the parchment it contained- a small piece of paper rolled around two long, thin pieces of wood- on the table before them, displaying the clearly Ancient writing on it. "Several weeks ago, she set off in search of her son who had strayed too far from the village. Neither have been seen nor heard from since."

"This parchment," he continued, indicating the paper that was now spread out on the table before him, "was purportedly left behind by Morgan herself, as a guide for knights of noble spirit, since it is said that only the most virtuous will succeed in claiming the Sangraal."

"'Only those of virtue true may win the prize concealed beyond the reach of the flawed and tainted," Daniel said, having begun to study the parchment before them, covered in some writing that Spike thought he recognised as what his new friends had identified as Ancient. "The Sangraal shall instead belong to he who speaks the guardian's name'... guardian's name?"

"They say that the Sangraal is protected by the most powerful of mythical beasts," Osric responded. "A dragon."

"Dragon?" Daniel repeated uncertainly (Spike wasn't sure if he should be grateful that he hadn't mentioned his encounter with dragons during that mess with that bloody emperor Qin and that 'Jhiera' bird last year; given that they'd only shown up in exceptional circumstances he didn't think talking about them would accomplish much).

"You doubt the legend?" Osric asked, as he looked slightly sceptically at the group around him.

"Well," Sam put in, trying to sound diplomatic, "I'm sure the Sangraal is protected by something very powerful, but I don't think it's an actual dragon."

"Believe what you will," Osric said, chuckling slightly as he spoke, clearly amused at their scepticism. "With luck you may have the opportunity to prove the truth for yourselves."

"'Prudence, wisdom, charity, kindness, and faith'," Daniel said, still reading from the parchment before them with undisguised curiosity. "'Let these be your guide on this perilous quest'..."

His confused expression as he looked up after he had finished speaking made it clear that he had nothing else to contribute; evidently he'd read everything relevant that the parchment had to offer.

"Is there... anything else?" Mitchell asked, looking uncertainly at Osric.

"No," Osric replied, as he rolled the parchment back up and returned it to the box. "All Morgan left behind was this parchment... and the map."

"Uh... there's a map?" Sam asked.

"Yes," Osric replied, smiling slightly at them.

"May we see it?" Teal'c asked (Spike had to give the guy points; he had a definite talent for asking the obvious questions).

"No!" Osric replied, looking back at Teal'c with an indignant tone.

"Why not?" Sam asked

"I showed it to the last group of adventurers who came in search of the Sangraal," Osric replied, looking at the group with a surprising amount of frustration considering his earlier genial attitude, "and they rewarded my trust by trying to take it!"

"Yeah, we, uh, know the guy that runs that operation," Mitchell said, a slightly apologetic tone in his voice even as he looked reassuringly at the old man. "We're not like him."

"Ah ha, well, I'm sorry," Osric said, waving his hands dismissively before he picked up the box and began to walk back up the staircase that he'd come down originally. "It is not for public view."

"Hey!" Vala yelled after him as he turned the corner at the top of the small flight of stairs. "We wouldn't dream of trying to steal it!"

As Osric disappeared around a corner, laughing in a slightly hoarse manner that made Spike uncomfortable, the intangible vampire thrust his fist into the nearest wall in frustration; if he couldn't damage anything, it at least made him feel better.

They came all this way, only to be thwarted because the group who came before them had left a really bad impression...

It was just like what Angel had once said (He might not like the poof but he'd made some valid points); sometimes, being the good guy was a lot harder than being the bad guy...